This is the blog of Margaret Gordon, Labour Councillor in Springfield Ward, Hackney. This is a space to update residents on the work that I am doing to represent them on Hackney Council

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Springfield Ward Forum 2nd July Webb Estate Community Hall 7-8pm

I am pleased to announce that the first meeting of a new Springfield Ward Forum will take place on Monday 2nd July from 7 - 8pm at the Webb Estate Community Hall off Upper Clapton Road .

The purpose of the forum
is to improve collaboration between local Councillors and residents. It is an
opportunity for us to work together to design and deliver ways of improving the
local area.

The Springfield Ward Forum will not be a typical Council meeting and does not
seek to duplicate any of the existing work we do to address individual
problems and casework issues. Instead we think its an exciting opportunity to bring people together to make a
positive difference to the ward.

We
hope you can come along on 2nd July, meet your neighbours and share
your ideas for the things you would like to work together to achieve in
the local area.

To prompt your thinking we thought that we would share some of our initial ideas for what the Springfield Ward Forum could do:

Mapping our Ward - How much do we know about our ward? Where are the significant places and organisations? There will be a large map of Springfield at the meeting so we can share local knowledge.

Developing Springfield - How should Springfield develop in the future? How do we balance housing needs and the environment? How can community organisations work together? How can we work together to improve local buildings such as the disused toilets on Clapton Common.

Olympics and Legacy - How will the forthcoming Olympics affect us in Springfield? What will be the legacy? Do we want to develop a sport for social change movement like the one in Stoke Newington.

Telling Local Stories –
there is a wealth of information available about the history of the
local area. However, we are not aware of anything that necessarily tells
the stories of the people and families that have lived here. The forum
could establish a local network to do this by bringing people to
together, to talk and share their stories. These could then be shared
more widely - online, for example.

Local Photography
– similar to the idea above, the forum could encourage people could
share photographs of the local area over the years. People could bring
photos to meetings, share them with others, and tell the stories related
to them. Over time we could build up a visual representation of how the
area has changed, which could be shared more widely.

Skills Trading – there is a huge range of expertise in the local area. Based on Trade School London (http://www.tradeschool.coop/london/class)
the forum could encourage people to share these skills with others.
People could offer to teach a class (at a forum meeting) on something
they have specific expertise (it could be photography, art, growing
food, music, stone carving , anything, really). This would
be done for free in exchange for somebody else offering to do the same
thing, and so on and so forth.

These
are only ideas. They are intended to demonstrate that there is
significant potential for the different types of things we could do
through the forum.

Importantly the work of the forum will be guided by you, so please do come along on 2ndJuly and get involved.

If you would like to share any thoughts about the forum, please do not hesitate to email margaret.gordon@hackney.gov.uk